The Vampire's Bride by Gena Showalter

Layel is the King of the Vampires of Atlantis, but he is at war with the Dragons because long ago, the Dragons raped and killed the one woman who was precious to him, a human from the Upper world named Susan. That was over two centuries ago, but Layel has never forgotten his loss, or forgiven the Dragons for killing her. He and his people remain at war with the Dragons. So when he finds the Dragons fighting with some Amazons, he and his warriors gladly join the fight against the Dragons.

Delilah is an Amazon, but she has different feelings from that of her people. Amazons are supposed to use men only for the sex, but she wants love more than just sex. She had hoped to find that with a Dragon she had once fought against, but despite her hopes, he abandoned her after a single night in her bed. That should have hardened her, but she still longs for something else. When she meets Layel on the field of battle, she finds herself incredibly attracted to the white-haired Vampire King. But is there any hope of them ever being together?

Then, during the fight, Layel and Delilah are pulled away from the battle to... somewhere else, along with Layel's second in command, a vampire named Zane. And Delilah's fellow Amazon, Nola, is also taken, With them are two of every race in Atlantis: Dragons, Demons, Nymphs, Centaurs, Minotaurs and so on. Layel tries to kill the leader of the Dragons, but is blocked by an immovable wall. And even though they are on the surface, in sunlight, he is not being damaged by it.

Soon, the beings on the shore are called together by a watery messenger. The beings on this island have been gathered together by the Gods for the purpose of determining which of the many races of Atlantis is the strongest. Here, they will undergo many tests, and the winner will get any wish they desire granted by the Gods. The losers, and there will be many, will be eliminated. Which means, yes, killed.

Any wish... Layel could bring his love, Susan, back to life. Suddenly, he wishes to win the competition, even when the Gods reveal that each of the pairs will be on a different team and fighting against each other. But he's distracted by thoughts of Delilah, and realizes that he is attracted to her, and despite her protests, she is also attracted to him.

As the gods run the contest, Layel grows more and more attracted to Delilah, and works to prevent her from losing and being eliminated. But as time goes on, he realizes that his attraction to Delilah is making him believe they could have a future together, and where does that leave his feelings for Susan? He promised to love her forever, and now he's forgetting her after only 200 years! Hating himself, he tries to push Delilah away, but each of the Gods have a favorite in this contest, and when Hestia takes away Delilah's emotions to help her win, Layel can't stand the thought of not having her love anymore. But can he make a deal with the Gods to get Delilah's love back for a single night and convince her to win?

The setup for this book was generally awesome, even if it read like "Supernatural Survivor: Atlantis Island". Some attention is paid to the challenges at first, but later they fade into the background, used only to underscore the growing relationship between Layel and Delilah. It was nice to see them just be attracted at first, and to see Layel being the one being conflicted over their relationship (because the girl is usually just the nice girl who has doubts) was very nice indeed.

So far there have been four books set in Gena Showalter's "Atlantis" verse, and this is only the second I've read, but I enjoyed it very much. I'd also be interested in seeing how Layel met Susan in the first place, given what is revealed in "Heart of the Dragon", but that's just handwaved away in this book- because it isn't really important. What is important is the relationship between Layel and Delilah, and that was well-done.

This isn't a bad book, but it wasn't well-done enough for me to want to pick up the rest of the series. A story it was entertaining, but nothing special. Unfortunately for me, I found the setup for the story more interesting than the actual story. So, recommended, but get it from the library.